Method and apparatus for detecting beverage bottles having a lip damaged outwardly of the crown sealing surface

ABSTRACT

Method and apparatus are disclosed for the detection of beverage bottles having a lip damaged outwardly of the crown sealing surface. Such detection is provided for in conjunction with the bottle filling operation wherein the filling apparatus seals on the bottle lip outwardly of the crown sealing surface and the bottle is then subjected to a counter pressure. If the counter pressure developed in the bottle is less than the pressure imposed on the beverage in the source reservoir, a short fill results. Thus, if the bottle lip is damaged outwardly of the crown sealing surface and in the region of sealing, a lesser counter pressure is developed in the bottle due to leakage past the seal which will result in a detectable short fill and can be rejected from the production line.

United States Patent [191 Schulz METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DETECTINGBEVERAGE BOTTLES HAVING A LIP DAMAGED OUTWARDLY OF THE CROWN SEALINGSURFACE [75] Inventor: Arthur F. Schulz, Milwaukee, Wis.

[73] Assignee: Joseph Schlitz Brewing Company, Milwaukee, Wis.

[22] Filed: Aug. 25, 1972 [21] Appl. No.: 283,803

[52] US. Cl 141/83, 73/45, 209/82 [51] Int. Cl B07b 13/18, 1365b H48[58] Field Of Search 73/37.5, 37, 49.8, 45.3,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,316,549 9/1919 Winkley73/45.1 2,084,653 6/1937 Preston..... 3,010,310 11/1961 Rowe ..73/45.1X3,133,638 5/1964 Calhoun 209/82 3,230,760 l/l966 Fryer et a1. 73/49.2 X3,374,887 3/1968 Paruolo et al. 73/37 X [11] 3,834,429 [451 Sept. 10,1974 3,390,569 7/1968 McMeekin 73/37 3,595,065 7/1971 Scribner 73/45.13,702,625 11/1972 Schmidt 141/95 Primary ExaminerRichard C. QueisserAssistant Examiner-Daniel M. Yasich Attorney, Agent, or FirmAndrus,Sceales, Starke & Sawall [57] ABSTRACT Method and apparatus aredisclosed for the detection of beverage bottles having a lip damagedoutwardly of the crown sealing surface. Such detection is provided forin conjunction with the bottle filling operation wherein the fillingapparatus seals on the bottle lip outwardly of the crown sealing surfaceand the bottle is then subjected to a counter pressure. If the counterpressure developed in the bottle is less than the pressure imposed onthe beverage in the source reservoir, a short fill results. Thus, if thebottle lip is damaged outwardly of the crown sealing surface and in theregion of sealing, a lesser counter pressure is developed in the bottledue to leakage past the seal which will result in a detectable shortfill and can be rejected from the production line.

4 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures REJECT CONTROL MEANS METHOD AND APPARATUSFOR DETECTING BEVERAGE BOTTLES HAVING A LIP DAMAGED OUTWARDLY OF THECROWN SEALING SURFACE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relatesto a method and apparatus for detecting beverage bottles having a lipdamaged outwardly of the crown sealing surface.

Carbonated beverages including beer and soft drinks are enjoyed bycountless people. Many people prefer drinking such beverages direct fromthe bottle without benefit of glass or cup, and many others aresometimes compelled to do so by circumstance. When drinking directlyfrom a bottle, a persons lips generally make contact with the portion ofthe bottle lip which extends outwardly from the crown or bottle capsealing surface at the extreme upper end of the bottle. When the bottlelip portion which extends outwardly from the crown sealing surface isdamaged as by chipping, it constitutes a source of annoyance whichalienates customers and provokes customer complaint.

While no beverage dispensing house is desirous of alienating customersby using bottles having an imperfect lip, the fact remains that a bottlewhich is chipped on the lip portion which extends outwardly from thecrown sealing surface is most difficult to detect. There is nosatisfactory detection equipment available which can directly detectsuch bottle imperfections on a fast moving production line. It isgenerally an object of this invention to provide for detection of thosebottles having a lip which is damaged outwardly from the crown sealingsurface so that such bottles can be removed from the production line.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Generally, according to this invention,provision is made for the detection of beverage bottles having a lipdamaged outwardly of the crown sealing surface in conjunction with thebottle filling operation. In the filling operation the beverage issupplied from a source maintained under a given gaseous pressure. Theapparatus further includes bottle engagement means which communicateswith the beverage source and places the bottle in communication with thesource. The bottle engagement means includes an annular sealing memberwhich makes sealing contact with the lip of the bottle outwardly of thecrown sealing surface. Means are provided for developing a gaseouscounter pressure in the bottle prior to its filling. And means arefurther provided for transfer of the beverage from the source to thebottle while simultaneously venting the gaseous contents of the bottle.The bottle can be properly filled only if the counter pressure developedtherein is generally equal to the pressure on the beverage in thesource. If the counter pressure developed in the bottle is less than thepressure on the beverage in the source, foaming results during fillingto preclude a proper fill and results in what is termed a short fill.Thus, the quality of the seal developed between the bottle and theannular sealing member is determinative of the magnitude of the counterpressure developed in the bottle. If that seal is interrupted to allowleakage from the bottle because the lip is damaged outwardly of thecrown sealing surface and in the region of sealing member engagement,the resulting lesser counter pressure will result in DESCRIPTION OF THEDRAWING FIGURES The drawings furnished herewith illustrate the best modepresently contemplated for the invention and are described hereinafter.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is an elevational view which illustrates generally the apparatusfor filling bottles with a carbonated beverage;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged partial detail section showing the filling adaptorassembly of the bottle filling apparatus in engagement with a bottle inthe mode of filling; and

FIG. 3 is a further enlarged partial detail section showing generallythe sealing engagement with a bottle in the filling mode and providingfor detection of bottles having a lip damaged outwardly of the crownsealing surface.

DESCRIPTION OF THE ILLUSTRATED EMBODIMENT Referring to the drawings, abottle 1 to be filled with a carbonated beverage is shown in connectionwith the filling apparatus or machine 2.

The filling apparatus 2 includes the generally closed reservoir 3wherein the beverage for bottling is maintained under a given pressureof CO gas. The reservoir 3 communicates with a valve unit 4 through afill line 5 which extends from the lower portion of the reservoir and apressure line 6 which extends from the upper portion of the reservoir.The valve unit 4 may be controlled by a suitable cam, not shown, toprovide for filling of the bottle 1 in a manner hereinafter described.

A bottle fill adaptor assembly 7 is disposed beneath the valve unit 4and includes a vertically extending hollow filling spout or tube 8having the upper end thereof secured within a support member 9. The tubesupport member 9 is secured beneath the valve unit 4 by means of thethreaded member 10 which has a radial flange engageable under thedownwardly facing external shoulder 11 of the support member.

The fill adaptor assembly 7 further includes a bottle guide bell 12which is slidably carried on the fill tube 8. The guide bell 12 ismovable between a bottle engaging position generally shown in FIG. 1,wherein the internal guide bell shoulder 13 rests on the upwardly facingshoulder 14 adjacent to the lower end of the fill tube 8, and the bottlefill position wherein the upper end of the guide bellis pushed intosealing engagement with the annular sealing member 15 secured to thebase of the fill tube support member 9 as generally shown in FIG. 2.

The bottle filling apparatus 2 further includes a vertically movablebottle support stirrup l6 spaced and aligned vertically beneath the filladaptor assembly 7. The support stirrup 16 is adapted to receive thebottle 1 and thereafter is actuated to carry the bottle upwardly intothe fill position.

As the bottle 1 is moved upwardly by the stirrup 16, the head 17 of thebottle enters the guide bell l2 and carries the guide bell upwardlytherewith relative to the fill tube 8 which enters the bottle. In theevent the bottle l is not properly centered relative to the fill adaptorassembly 7, the guide bell l2 and its internal annular sealing member 18serve to center the bottle and its mouth 19 for entry of the fill tube 8and to provide for proper sealing engagement with the sealing member 18.

To effect filling of the bottle 1 after the bottle arrives in the fillposition, the valve unit 4 is actuated to initially place the bottle incommunication with the pressure line 6 whereby to develop a counterpressure in the bottle equal to that in the reservoir 3. Thereafter thevalve unit 4 is actuated to additionally open the fill line to effect afilling of the bottle 1 with the beverage passing through the fill tube8 and entering the bottle through a plurality of circumferentiallyspaced openings at the lower end of the fill tube. As the bottle 1 isprogressively filled with beverage from the reservoir 3, the gas underpressure initially contained in the bottle is vented back to thereservoir passing successively through one or more vertically extendingpassages 21 in the guide bell 12 adjacent to the fill tube 8, theannular passage 22 formed between the fill tube and the sealing member15 at the base of the fill tube support member 9, one or more passages23 extending vertically through the fill tube support member, and thenback through the valve unit 4 and pressure line 6. At the conclusion ofthe filling operation, the valve unit 4 is actuated to close both thepressure line 6 and the fill line 5 and the support stirrup 16 islowered to effect a withdrawal of the fill tube 8 from the bottle 1 andmove the bottle to clear the fill adaptor assembly 7. With removal ofthe till tube 8, the level of the beverage in the bottle 1 will drop toa desired predetermined level to provide within acceptable tolerancelimits the rated liquid contents for the bottle.

A correct and proper fill for the bottle 1 is dependent on thedevelopment of a counter pressure in the bottle substantially equal tothat in reservoir 3. With the counter pressure in bottle 1 equalizedwith reservoir pressure, foaming of the carbonated beverage is held to aminimum and proper filling of the bottle is'assured. In the event thecounter pressure developed in the bottle l is less than reservoirpressure, excess foaming results in the filling operation to preclude acorrect and proper fill of the bottle and resulting in what is termed ashort fill. Short fills or bottles not filled to rated capacity are ofcourse easily detected and removed manually or by available automaticdetection and removal equipment, separate from the apparatus of theinvention, such as illustrated in FIG. 1 and described in US. Pat. No.3,133,638.

According to this invention, at least a large proportion of bottles 1having a damaged surface portion 24 of lip 25 outwardly from the crownsealing surface 26 can be detected in conjunction with the bottlefilling operation. Generally, the invention provides that a largeproportion of the bottles 1 having a damaged lip surface 24 will resultin a short fill so that available detection means for short fill bottlescan be relied upon to reject bottles having such imperfections.

In order to provide for short filling of bottles 1 having a damaged lipsurface portion 24, the annular sealing member 18 internally of theguide bell 12 is adapted to make contact with the bottle lip surfaceportion 24 during the bottle filling operation as best shown in FIG. 3.As shown, the sealing member 18 is seated in an annular recess 27interiorly of the guide bell l2 and includes adjacent, angularly relatedannular surfaces 28 and 29 which form the circular edge 30 therebetween.The diameter of the circular edge 30 exceeds the diameter of the crownsealing surface 26 of the bottle 1 and together with the angularity ofthe sealing member surface 29 provides for the projection of bottlesealing surface 26 upwardly beyond edge 30 during the fill operation.Asa consequence, the sealing member edge 30 must make sealing contactwith lip surface portion 24 of the centered bottle 1.

With some 30 pounds of pressure imposed from below by the bottlesupporting stirrup 16, some deformation of the sealing member 18 alongedge 30 results and is desired to provide good sealing contact with thebottle 1. Excessive deformation, however, is to be avoided so that thesealing member 18 will not merely deform or squash into any chippedareas present in the bottle lip surface portion 24. To precludeexcessive deformation, the sealing member 18 is fabricated from arelatively hard rubber or other sealing material. While the deformationcharacteristics provided by a sealing member 18 fabricated from materialregistering a durometer hardness in the range from 72 to 82 is generallypreferred, a durometer hardness range from 65 to may be passablyacceptable.

The invention thus provides a method for detecting a large proportion ofthose bottles 1 having lips 25 which are damaged outwardly of the crownsealing surface 26. If the bottle lip surface portion 24 outwardly ofthe crown sealing surface 26 is damaged in the region engaged by thesealing edge 30 of the adaptor assembly sealing member 18 during thebottle filling operation, the damaged area will present a pressure leakso as to preclude development of a counter pressure in the bottle 1generally equal to that in the reservoir 3. With a lesser pressuredeveloped in the bottle 1, excess foaming results as the beverage entersthe bottle to preclude a correct and proper fill and specificallyresulting in a short fill. Such a short fill bottle is easily detectedand rejected from the production line by either manually or by presentlyavailable short fill detection and removal equipment.

Various modes of carrying out the invention are contemplated as beingwithin the scope of the following claims particularly pointing out anddistinctly claiming the subject matter which is regarded as theinvention.

I claim:

1. In apparatus for filling bottles with a carbonated beverage, saidbottles having a lip provided with a crown sealing surface, a source ofbeverage under a given gaseous pressure, bottle engagement meanscommunicating with said beverage source for placing a bottle incommunication with the beverage source, said bottle engagement meansincluding an annular sealing member for making sealing contact with thelip of a bottle outwardly of the crown sealing surface, the annularsealing member includes a pair of adjacent, angularly related annularsurfaces which form a circular edge adapted to sealingly engage the lipof the bottle in a substantial line contact outwardly of the crownsealing surface, means for developing a gaseous counter pressure in thebottle prior to filling the bottle, means to provide for transfer ofbeverage from the source to the bottle while simultaneously venting thegaseous contents from the bottle, proper filling of a bottle beingdependent upon development of a counter pressure in the bottle generallyequal to the pressure on the beverage in said source to keep foaming ofthe beverage at a minimum, with development of some lesser counterpressure in the bottle resulting in excessive foaming and a short fill,and means separate from the filling apparatus to detect and reject anybottle that is short filled, the quality of the sealing contact betweenthe bottle and said sealing member being determinative of the magnitudeof the counter pressure developed in the bottle so that a bottle havinga lip which is damaged outwardly of the crown sealing surface and in theregion of sealing contact will develop a lesser counter pressure andthus be detectable as a short fill.

2. The invention as set forth in claim 1, wherein the sealing member isfabricated from sealing material having a durometer hardness in therange from 65 to 90.

3. The invention as set forth in claim 1, wherein the sealing member isfabricated from sealing material having a durometer hardness in therange from 72 to 82 to provide generally preferred deformationcharacteristics.

4. A method for detecting beverage bottles during the bottle fillingoperation having a lip which is damaged outwardly of the crown sealingsurface of the bottle, the steps including making a substantially linesealing contact with the lip of the bottle outwardly of the crownsealing surface, subjecting the bottle to a gaseous counter pressurethrough the sealing contact, filling the bottle through the sealingcontact from a source of carbonated beverage under a given pressure andsimultaneously venting the gaseous contents of the bottle, properfilling ofthe bottle being dependent upon development of a counterpressure in the bottle generally equal to the pressure on trhe beveragein said source to keep foaming of the beverage at a minimum withdevelopment of some lesser counter pressure in the bottle resulting inexcessive foaming and a short fill, and separately detecting andrejecting any bottle that is short filled, the quality of the sealingcontact being determinative of the magnitude of the counter pressuredeveloped in the bottle so that a bottle having a lip which is damagedoutwardly of the crown sealing surface and in the region of sealingcontact will develop a lesser counter pressure and thus be detectable asa short fill.

1. In apparatus for filling bottles with a carbonated beverage, saidbottles having a lip provided with a crown sealing surface, a source ofbeverage under a given gaseous pressure, bottle engagement meanscommunicating with said beverage source for placing a bottle incommunication with the beverage source, said bottle engagement meansincluding an annular sealing member for making sealing contact with thelip of a bottle outwardly of the crown sealing surface, the annularsealing member includes a pair of adjacent, angularly related annularsurfaces which form a circular edge adapted to sealingly engage the lipof the bottle in a substantial line contact outwardly of the crownsealing surface, means for developing a gaseous counter pressure in thebottle prior to filling the bottle, means to provide for transfer ofbeverage from the source to the bottle while simultaneously venting thegaseous contents from the bottle, proper filling of a bottle beingdependent upon development of a counter pressure in the bottle generallyequal to the pressure on the beverage in said source to keep foaming ofthe beverage at a minimum, with development of some lesser counterpressure in the bottle resulting in excessive foaming and a short fill,and means separate from the filling apparatus to detect and reject anybottle that is short filled, the quality of the sealing contact betweenthe bottle and said sealing member being determinative of the magnitudeof the counter pressure developed in the bottle so that a bottle havinga lip which is damaged outwardly of the crown sealing surface and in theregion of sealing contact will develop a lesser counter pressure andthus be detectable as a short fill.
 2. The invention as set forth inclaim 1, wherein the sealing member is fabricated from sealing materialhaving a durometer hardness in the range from 65 to
 90. 3. The inventionas set forth in claim 1, wherein the sealing member is fabricated fromsealing material having a durometer hardness in the range from 72 to 82to provide generally preferred deformation characteristics.
 4. A methodfor detecting beverage bottles during the bottle filling operatioNhaving a lip which is damaged outwardly of the crown sealing surface ofthe bottle, the steps including making a substantially line sealingcontact with the lip of the bottle outwardly of the crown sealingsurface, subjecting the bottle to a gaseous counter pressure through thesealing contact, filling the bottle through the sealing contact from asource of carbonated beverage under a given pressure and simultaneouslyventing the gaseous contents of the bottle, proper filling of the bottlebeing dependent upon development of a counter pressure in the bottlegenerally equal to the pressure on trhe beverage in said source to keepfoaming of the beverage at a minimum with development of some lessercounter pressure in the bottle resulting in excessive foaming and ashort fill, and separately detecting and rejecting any bottle that isshort filled, the quality of the sealing contact being determinative ofthe magnitude of the counter pressure developed in the bottle so that abottle having a lip which is damaged outwardly of the crown sealingsurface and in the region of sealing contact will develop a lessercounter pressure and thus be detectable as a short fill.